AC Milan’s interest in signing Nathan Ake from Manchester City is now being confirmed by sources from his home country.
Milan will need to reinforce their defensive department next season ahead of a return to playing in a European competition, especially if Massimiliano Allegri chooses to stick with a system that requires three central defenders.
Ake on the radar
According to Voetbal International (via MilanVibes), Nathan Aké is in the Rossoneri’s sights for the summer. The Dutch newspaper reports that the defender will leave Manchester City this summer and that he is attracting strong interest from top Serie A clubs.
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The former Bournemouth and Chelsea player still wants to play in a top-level league and, apparently, Italy represents an excellent opportunity. Milan are not the only club that have got word of the potential opportunity though.
The paper states: “Aké is attracting concrete interest from Juventus and Roma. However, both clubs must first secure qualification for European competitions.
“The same goes for AC Milan, who were already close to signing the defender this winter. However, due to a series of injuries at Manchester City, Pep Guardiola blocked the deal.”
Having made 29 appearances this season for Manchester City, including 15 in the Premier League and five in the Champions League, Ake is ready for a new adventure. The Dutch centre-back’s contract expires in 2027 and he turned 31 on February 18th.
Now on the fringes of the project (1,445 minutes this season in all competitions), the biggest obstacle is his salary of over £8m per year, which is expected to be significantly reduced if he were to land in Italy.
Maignan- De Winter, Gila, Pavlovic- ???, Goretzka, Modric, Rabiot, Grimaldo- Pulisic, Gomes (?);
Torriani- Tomori, Gabbia, Ake- Saelemaekers, Fofana, Ricci, Ardon, Bartesaghi- ???, Sorloth (???);
Terracciano, Athekame, MC, Comotto, Camarda;
This is still (very) far from brilliant and sufficient…
*Ramos, not Gomes
If we get a defender like Ake, I think it would only make sense if we switch to a back-4.
Otherwise, we should just save that money and spend it on the attack.
The 3-5-2 makes defending a brain dead task, which makes everybody look more competent than they actually are. That is also why Italian defenders aren’t as good anymore. Playing a back-3 is a get-out-of-jail-free-card for any mediocre defender, hence why Gabbia, Tomori & Salaemakers look competent again…
Reason why Theo was world class for Milan, is that he was able to hold down that left back position AND cover for Leao… in a back-4!!
That was brilliant and something you can barely buy in the market. But hey, lets push another Maldini loyalist out for Estupinian and some unproven Primavera player who looks more like a CB than an LB…
“Playing a back-3 is a get-out-of-jail-free-card for any mediocre defender, hence why Gabbia, Tomori & Salaemakers look competent again…”
Gabbia and Tomori have always been competent in a 4 man defense. Tomori won the Scudetto playing a 4 man defense, Gabbia has always played in a 4 man defense both in Italy and Spain.
They only lost form due to the many uncertainties ongoing at the club and Allegri has come to cause more confusion and this has not helped them either.
The season stats has shown that the 3 man defense is used ultra defensively by Allegri because he knows nothing about attacking football.
It is more likely he’ll join Roma/Inter than Milan. From recent experiences.
“the biggest obstacle is his salary of over £8m per year, which is expected to be significantly reduced if he were to land in Italy.”
ALWAYS the same issue. The author fails to realize EPL wages are gross while in Italy it’s net. The players don’t care about their gross salary, they only care about the net sums. £8M in EPL is ~4M€ in Serie A. Absolutely doable by all the clubs interested in him.
Poor journalism. Again. Time after time the same issue. Lazy.